


8th Gate Anticlimax

by Sonikah



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 01:29:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30098226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sonikah/pseuds/Sonikah
Summary: The battle against Madara was going badly, but Might Guy held him off long enough for Naruto and Sasuke to arrive. Or at least that's what was supposed to happen. Now the climactic final battle might end... anticlimactically.
Kudos: 4





	8th Gate Anticlimax

**Disclaimer:** _Naruto_ is a manga written by Masashi Kishimoto. The cover image is a screenshot from the _Naruto Shippuden_ anime.

* * *

The Fourth Shinobi World War was going pretty terribly for the Allied Shinobi Forces. Despite their enemy’s forces being reduced to a single person, that single person was an indestructible zombie with godlike powers. Uchiha Madara had absorbed every Bijuu and become the jinchuuriki of the Juubi. Even though Obito switched sides to fight alongside Kakashi once again, both Naruto and Sasuke were in critical condition and most of the Allied Forces were too weak to meaningfully contribute.

Hatake Kakashi, Sabaku no Gaara, Might Guy, and Namikaze Minato, the recently-resurrected Yondaime Hogake, stood across from Madara during a lull in the fighting. The battle was extremely bleak, but not totally hopeless just yet. To absorb the Juubi, Madara needed to be alive, so Black Zetsu forced Obito to use Rinne Tensei to revive him. Now that he wasn’t an eternally regenerating zombie, Madara could _theoretically_ be killed.

_Theoretically_ , Kakashi thought. _Yeah right. He’s immune to everything but Senjutsu right now, and Naruto is in no condition to fight._ Kakashi glanced to the side at his sensei, the Yondaime Hokage. _Fortunately, we have another sage right her_ -

“Would now be a bad time to mention that I’m really bad at Senjutsu?” Minato said as he dashed what little remained of their hopes. “I’m also missing an arm, and it’s still not regenerating. I’m not going to be able to do much in the way of Ninjutsu either.”

Kakashi stared blankly at his sensei, feeling his hopes wither away with every word.

Might Guy smiled. His time had come. He leapt forwards into the no man’s land between the four shinobi and Madara. Guy assumed his stance in preparation for his ultimate trump card.

“EIGHT GATES OF LIFE! SEVENTH GATE: THE GATE OF WONDER!” Guy shouted as he released the tenketsu located in his stomach. His sweat turned blue and began to form a cloud of steam around him.

Madara smirked. “If you’re not using the last gate, then you’re underestima-“

He was cut off and forced to dodge as Guy wove between his staff and truth-seeking balls to land blow after blow on him. Guy formed a seal with his hands in between punches and unleashed his next technique. “DAYTIME TIGER!” Guy bellowed as he struck forward hard enough to unleash a blast of pressure. The Taijutsu technique was executed perfectly enough that the blast of air resembled a roaring tiger as it slammed into Madara and flung him backwards.

* * *

Guy struggled to catch his breath. The Daytime Tiger had ruptured his muscle fibers and left him trembling in pain. Only the intervention of his beloved student Rock Lee had saved him from Madara’s retaliation. Even his penultimate attack had barely fazed Madara. He pulled himself to his feet. He knew what needed to be done next.

“Lee, how is Tenten?” Guy asked with a faint smile. Guy still held his beloved students close to his heart. While Neji had passed away, he needed to know that Tenten was safe before he could begin.

“Guy-sensei! She is fine! I came as quickly as I could when I saw the Daytime Tiger!” Lee replied.

“Good…” Guy said with a smile. He moved forward to stand alongside Kakashi, his eternal rival.

“Kakashi,” he began, “it’s time for this blue beast to become a red beast. If we want to stop Madara and save the world, this is our only option.” He turned his head to give Lee a confident smile. “Look at me, Lee. This is my finest hour.”

Guy sprinted forward, his thoughts filled with memories of his precious people. His students, his comrades, his rival, and his father all pushed him forward even as he drove his thumb into his chest to release spike of chakra into the tenketsu above his heart.

“OPEN, EIGHT GATES OF LIFE! EIGTH GATE: THE GATE OF DEATH!” Pure energy burst out of him and surrounded him in a haze of red steam as his blood boiled with sheer energy. Guy’s power multiplied a hundredfold as he prepared himself to protect the things he really cared for.

“EVENING ELEPHANT!” Guy roared as he flew into Madara with blows that shook the ground despite both fighters being in mid-air. The five-fold strike of the Evening Elephant increased in power consecutively as Guy built up the final blow.

_If that last kick hits me, even_ I _would be hurt!_ Madara thought as he launched his truth-seeking balls forward and brought his chakra shield to bear. However, it was in vain; Minato, Kakashi, Gaara, and Lee launched their plan to create an opening for Guy.

Guy smashed through Madara’s chakra shield and launched him across the wasteland. Even as Madara began ranting about wanting to fight more, Guy prepared himself. Madara was wounded, but only just.

Guy only had one option now. He prepared his final attack, the only Taijutsu technique to surpass the Evening Elephant, and technique of his own creation.

_Night Guy_.

Bloody steam surrounded him, and his skin went crimson as the chakra mixed with his blood to enshroud him with a giant dragon of pure physical might. Guy launched forward so quickly that he distorted the space between him and Madara before striking him with enough force to shatter the sound barrier. Madara flew away with such speed that the air around him combusted from the friction of his body against the air alone. Madara smashed through the God Tree before finally hitting the ground, unmoving.

Madara was dead.

* * *

Naruto leapt into the fray. His weird-looking distant grandpa had given him some cool new powers, and he was going to stop Madara once and for all.

“Alright, you bastard! I’m here to settle the score, datteba…” he trailed off. Madara wasn’t moving. Bushy Brows-sensei looked really hurt, so Naruto instinctively healed him as he looked closer at Madara. Maybe he was just resting?

After throwing a few rocks at Madara, Naruto was pretty sure he was either unconscious or dead. Given how twisted he was, Naruto was leaning more towards death.

_Wait, where’s his head?_

After closer inspection, Naruto concluded that yes, Bushy Brows-sensei had, in fact, reduced Madara’s head to a fine mist, Rinnegan and all.

**_Leave it to this idiot to show up after the final battle is over_** , the Kyuubi grumbled.

“Shut up, furball!”

* * *

In the astral realm, Otsutski Hagoromo, the Sage of Six Paths, observed the result of the battle.

“Fuck.”

Really? Right after he granted his powers to the reincarnations of his sons and sent them out to defeat Madara and prevent Kaguya’s return, some random guy beats him? Talk about anticlimactic. At least Asura’s reincarnation was putting his powers to use by healing whatever background character managed to take out Madara.

“Well, I guess they still need to deal with Black Zetsu. For a final battle, this could’ve been paced much more dramatically. The heroes just arrived and there’s barely anything left for them to do.”

* * *

Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Obito exited the Kamui dimension. Destroying Black Zetsu for good had been laughably easy with the combined powers of the Sage of Six Paths.

Sasuke gazed at the other shinobi as they celebrated Madara’s death. Now seemed like a good time to announce his plan to kill the Five Kage and usher in a new world. He was starting to see the appeal in being Hokage now. And with the Rinne-Sharingan, none of the exhausted remnants of the Allied Forces would be able to stand in his way.

* * *

One beat down later, Sasuke concluded that maybe he shouldn’t have announced his plans in front of everyone. The Rinne-Sharingan was great and all, but Rock Lee opened the Seventh Gate for the first time in his life when Sasuke was distracted with Naruto and blasted his left arm off with a Daytime Tiger. Apparently Guy’s victory had motivated him or something? Sasuke wasn’t exactly sure how it happened. He tried to ignore Lee whenever he could.

What mattered was that Sasuke had lost an arm (and thus his ability to use Ninjutsu) and Naruto still had both of his.

Even as Sakura alternates between healing him, yelling at him, and punching him, Sasuke wondered if ruining climactic battles was something Guy had taught Lee. They were both really good at it.

* * *

Decades later, Rock Lee and Might Guy looked on in pride as their numerous students went through the kata for their form of martial arts. After Guy’s defeat of Madara, he had become a living legend, and many students had flocked to Konoha to learn from the Sublime Red Beast (Guy felt that he deserved the upgraded title).

Guy smiled as he watched Lee’s son Metal Lee perform a particularly difficult technique.

Life was good, even if it hadn’t gone quite the way it was supposed to.

* * *

**Author’s Note:** This story has been floating around in the back of my mind for years now, and I wanted to get it on paper before I work on other projects. This is my first time writing action scenes, so any feedback is appreciated.

(First published on March 17, 2021)


End file.
